Troy mayor honors RPI athlete who stopped runaway train cars

Mayor Madden also recognized RPI football for 2018 season

Updated
9:24 pm EST, Wednesday, December 5, 2018

Troy Mayor Patrick Madden, left, and head coach Ralph Isernia, right, pose for a photo with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute football player Reuben Clarke at RPI on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018 in Troy, N.Y. On November 21, after departing the Albany-Rensselaer Train Station, two train cars detached from the locomotive. Clarke, who witnessed the detachment, was hailed by other passengers as a hero for his quick actions to pull the emergency brake and stop the train. The mayor was recognizing the RPI football team on 2018 season. RPI won the Liberty League title and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament in 2018. (Lori Van Buren/Times Union) less

Troy Mayor Patrick Madden, left, and head coach Ralph Isernia, right, pose for a photo with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute football player Reuben Clarke at RPI on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018 in Troy, N.Y. On ... more

Troy Mayor Patrick Madden, left, and head coach Ralph Isernia, right, pose for a photo with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute football player Reuben Clarke at RPI on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018 in Troy, N.Y. On November 21, after departing the Albany-Rensselaer Train Station, two train cars detached from the locomotive. Clarke, who witnessed the detachment, was hailed by other passengers as a hero for his quick actions to pull the emergency brake and stop the train. The mayor was recognizing the RPI football team on 2018 season. RPI won the Liberty League title and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament in 2018. (Lori Van Buren/Times Union) less

Troy Mayor Patrick Madden, left, and head coach Ralph Isernia, right, pose for a photo with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute football player Reuben Clarke at RPI on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018 in Troy, N.Y. On ... more

TROY — It was a close call for hundreds of holiday travelers aboard an Amtrak train on Thanksgiving Eve when two of the passenger cars separated from the rest of the train.

The cars had just been attached at the Albany-Rensselaer station to provide more seating for the packed Adirondack, which had originated in Montreal and was heading south to Penn Station in New York City.

A quick-thinking Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute student, freshman Reuben Clarke, was credited with pulling the emergency brake at the front of the car.

Troy Mayor Patrick Madden visited campus Wednesday evening to personally thank Clarke, an offensive lineman on the RPI football team, for his heroism.